The Chachnāma (Fatḥnāma-yi Sind) 23.2

23.2

It is related by Abdul Hasan Hazli, on the authority of Bashar son of Khalid, that after Bazil was killed, Hajjáj wrote to Walid the reigning Khalifah, asking permission to conquer Hind. The Khalifah wrote in reply:—“The people (of that country) are cunning and the country itself is very distant. It will cost us very large sums of money to provide a sufficient number of men and arms and instruments of war, and will require unusual skill and might to carry on the war, not to mention enormous provisions. This affair will be a source of great anxiety, and so we must put it off; for, every time the army goes (on such an expedition) (vast) numbers of Mussalmans are killed. So think no more of such a design.” Hajjáj then wrote another letter in which he stated: “O, Commander of the Faithful, the Mussalmans of Hind are prisoners in the hands of infidels, who have on one occasion put to flight the army of Islam. That (defeat) must be avenged, and the prisoners released. As for the distance of the country, and the cost of the expedition, to which you refer in your letter, we have men and arms and instruments of war, and other things all ready to hand; nothing more is required. I undertake (God willing) to pay back into the royal treasury (may God make it last long) double the amount spent on provisions and other items of expenditure for the army here.”